Tables in which the effective area of the table surface can be varied are well known. Dining tables have been produced for many years provided with a base and one or more additional leaves which may be put adjacent table top sections to give a bigger table top. When not used, they may be slid under the table top (draw leaf tables) or may be removed altogether for storage separately. An alternative approach is to hinge the table top e.g. into two or three sections, one section being supported by a framework from which a support arm, optionally including a floor engaging leg, may be extended to support the folded up section. Such gate-leg tables are produced in a variety of designs. They possess a major disadvantage that when the section or sections are in their folded down position, they constitute a vertical wall e.g. making it difficult to sit with one's knees under the table if one sits at the folded down side. This is unsatisfactory.
Folding hinged table tops are known which consist of two sections hinged together which may either rest one on top of another in turn on top of the base, or where the other one may be hinged about its hinged line with the other piece of the table top to bring them into a common plane, which is then supported by the same underlying framework. The unfolded table top may be swivelled about a vertical axis to ensure that both halves are supported on the underlying framework. Because the framework does not change its shape, when the table top is unfolded, support is sometimes inadequate and the table is unstable. Also, tables with a top consisting of a number of equal sized hinged sections which may be unfolded to form an extended top and folded in for storage are known, for example from German Patent Specification, DE-C-366112, French Patent Specification, FR-A-1028025 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,647.